By Josh Srago, CTS

With the desire for simple, user-friendly, and localized wireless microphone systems Infrared wireless has seen a great deal of growth. But sometimes those IR solutions can create a few problems for the end users and installers. Intermittent drop outs can occur, or even complete areas of a room can have issues with transmission from the wireless microphones. So what can cause these problems?

Top 5 Issues for IR Transmission and their resolution:

• Inadequate coverage of a room. IR transmission takes place via line of sight. If the microphone emitters cannot locate a receiver, then audio will be lost. Ensuring that the complete area of broadcast is covered by a receiver is always a key.

• Cables are not equidistant. Because IR reception is not done via switching antennas the tuner will accept signal transmission from all receivers connected to it at all times. This means that if two antennas are receiving the same signal, but one has a shorter length cable, communication issues can exist because the transmission will broadcast at 2 different rates. Keeping all cables equidistant will prevent this.

• Interference from lighting. Incandescent bulbs emit components of near infrared waves. As such, they can cause issues with IR transmission and reception. One of the ways to help avoid issues from lighting systems placing the infrared receivers away from the lighting fixtures. By keeping this space in the system, the signal from the microphone does not have to pass so close to the source of the generation of light, and can avoid the interfering components.

• Plasma Displays. A plasma display emits a great deal of infrared light when active. As such, keeping the IR receivers away from the plasma display is vital. The issue that can arise is that the receiver cannot differentiate between the infrared signal from the microphones or the infrared light coming off of the plasma display.

• Sunlight. Sunlight is obviously a broad spectrum source of light that can interfere with infrared transmission. This is why it is best to focus the receivers away from windows and why infrared wireless microphones don't work outside.

Questions? Contact TOA’s Technical Support Department:
technicalsupport@toacanada.com
1-800-263-7639 or 905-564-3570 option 2 or ext. 320
(Available Monday to Friday, 8:30am until 8pm EST)

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